Dinorah

This installation consists of a vintage Peep Show booth made of wood and painted entirely black, with a neon sign above the entrance that blinks on and off: XXX. Beneath the neon sign is a printed sign that reads: "Must be 18 years old to enter". Inside the booth is a TV screen and a set of headphones. One at a time, viewers enter the booth, read the instructions on the screen, and pull the maroon velvet curtain behind them so that they are totally alone. The viewer (following the instructions) drops a coin into a slot, sits in a chair, places a keyboard on his/her lap, puts on a set of headphones and hits a button (Play) which begins the 3-minute peep show. The screen instantly begins to display 3 videos simultaneously (side by side), entitled: "Is Sex Safe?" "Cyberputa" and "How come you don't trust me?" The 3 film/video works in this installation are made from hand-crafted 16mm film, including a wide variety of clips from vintage pornography and vintage television commercials. The images are sexually explicit, yet technologically distressed so that a psychological barrier is created between the viewer and the erotic titillation intended in the actual imagery. While watching the 3 films simultaneously, the viewer is also listening to a recording of Etta James singing "Trust in Me" and propelled into a dizzying experience of sexual enticement, frustration and introspection. While watching and listening, the viewer is also able to type erotic messages on the keyboard and "chat" with the image of Cyberputa and the text will appear on the screen beneath the image. Once the peep show ends, the screen is erased and the viewer may leave without any trace of his/her erotic experience inside the booth. The aim of this work is to dissect the consumerist mentality we now attach to sexuality while addressing issues of personal safety in medical, social, emotional and spiritual terms. The work points to the mechanization and technological manipulation of our unconscious sexual impulses and the manner in which human sexuality has been stripped of its original and natural function in our lives while propelling us into a state of hypnotized hyperconsumerism. In short, the work offers viewers an opportunity for safe sex, a safe place in which to enjoy it, and the psychological safety of anonymity while consuming it. [Content provided by Dinorah]